Jun 1 Fuunji | 風雲児

Style: Chicken w/ GyokaiBowl to Crush: Tokusei Tsukemen (得製つけめん)

Unlike most ramen masters, the creator of Fuunji, Miyake-san, never served an apprenticeship in another famous shop. He had worked at an Italian restaurant and was simply an avid ramen fan. After spending years systematically sampling many of Tokyo's best ramen shops, he decided that he had what it takes to launch a place of his own. His creation has been regarded as one of the top tsukemen shops in Tokyo for years.

Ramen is also on the menu here, but if you look around you'll see 90% of the customers slurping down Fuunji's signature tsukemen. Miyake-san runs his shop methodically – there are four to five busy staff members working in a space about the size of a typical two-man ramen kitchen. Each apprentice has one or two jobs to do and that is all they do. Mikaye-san himself mans the noodle station. He sifts out his specially ordered noodles, watches them boil, and serves them into the bowls by hand.

The noodles are wonderfully eggy, but the star here is the soup – rich and creamy, without any overbearing heaviness. Each bowl gets a dollop of fish powder that makes the soup even silkier once you mix it in. Fuunji's soup looks and tastes a bit like tonkotsu-gyokai, but it contains no pork. Although chashu comes as a topping, the soup is made only with chicken carcasses, katsuo, and konbu. There's so much umami going on here that it's almost a sensory overload.

This shop has become increasing popular in recent years, and now is a regular stop for foreigners visiting from overseas. The lines can get long at peak hours but the turnover is quick, as this place runs like a well oiled machine and there is an English menu. If you can brave the tourists and the wait, it’s still one worth checking out.